Electric Gummy Crickets
by Kimber
Summary: Slash - Willow/Tara - Sequel to


**Title:** Electric Gummy Crickets   
**Disclaimer:** All BTVS characters belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy.   
**Summary:** Sequel to "Musings". This is the scene I think is missing from Superstar after Buffy leaves Tara's room. It had to be done.   
**Spoilers:** Up to Superstar.   
**Distribution:** Ask and you shall receive.   
**Author's Notes: ** Yeah, I know the title is really whacked out, but I never claimed sanity. You'll understand when you read it. I'm lifting some of the text from Superstar. Sorry Joss man, I needed it. Please don't send the big lumpy demon after me. Please? *grin*

*** Indicates images that both Willow and Tara are seeing.   
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"What's going on?" Buffy looks at the bed and sees Tara. "Oh my God."

Willow closes the door and kneels down next to Tara. "She's gonna be okay, but she's terrified."

"What happened?"

"Someone found her in the janitor's closet about an hour ago. I-I think she was there all night. She, she was all alone."

Buffy looks at Tara. "Tara. What did this?"

Tara struggles. "Big. . .lumpy and something, something on it's head, like a Greek letter, only not."

Buffy grabs some paper and jots something down. "This. Was it this?"

Tara nods weakly.

Willow frowns. "Buffy, Jonathan said we were all safe. Jonathan said it."

-------------

That was an hour ago. Since then, Willow had straightened up Tara's room, gone out quickly to get her a soda, and rung out the washcloth about fifty times. Tara fell asleep as soon as Buffy left. As Willow knelt next to Tara, several images passed by in her mind.

. . .The synchronicity spell with the rose – Willow *knew* she felt the power emanating around them. . .

. . .Tara offering her the dolls eye crystal and her fallen expression and hasty exit when Willow refused. She knew she had hurt her feelings. . .

. . .Holding hands with Tara at the Bronze – it seemed like the most natural thing in the world. . .

. . .Tara as her anchor when she ventured into the nether realm. The intensity of the spell still sent shivers up Willow's spine – but in a good way. . .

Willow smiled at all of these thoughts. Her smile quickly turned into a frown when she realized that Tara could have been lost last night. That lumpy demon could have made a lunchable out of her. Then where would Willow be? She'd come to rely on and cherish the friendship they'd built. Without Tara, it would be like. . .

"Hey." Tara stirred. "Don't you. . .shouldn't you be helping Buffy?" She furrowed her brow.

Willow shook her head. "No place to be but here. Buffy and Jonathan can handle it. Besides, I wanted to take care of you. How do you feel?" Willow wrung out the washcloth again and put it back on Tara's head.

"Um, I'm okay. A little achy. I hope. . .I'm not keeping you from anything, am I?"

"Of course not. I can beat myself up here as well as I can back in my room." Willow's eyes fell.

Tara sat up. "Willow. . .what do you mean? Why would you?"

"It's my fault. I should have walked you to your room like I always do. This never would have happened. . . you never would have gotten hurt." She sighed.

"It's not your fault. Really. Please don't blame yourself."

"I can't help it. I should have been there for you. . .you were terrified."

Tara reached out and put her hand on Willow's arm. "But. . .you're here now and, well, that's more important. If you were with me, then we both would have gotten hurt. . .I couldn't stand it if. . ." She stopped, afraid of going any further – afraid of everything spilling out all at once.

"That's just it. Tara, you got hurt and worse, you could have been killed. I couldn't stand it either if. . ." Willow looked up at her and a tear threatened to spill over. "I just couldn't stand it. That's all."

Tara smiled shyly and dropped her head. "I'm okay now though." She looked up at Willow again. "Thanks to you." She whispered.

Willow smiled. There wasn't anything she could think of to say. Tara had practically gotten killed last night. She did the only thing she could do when there weren't enough words for something like this. She slid onto the bed next to Tara and slowly wrapped her arms around her waist, carefully pulling her into a hug.

After a second or two, Tara found her motor skills and reciprocated the hug. It felt good, felt warm, but not just that, it felt. . .

"Is this alright?" Willow whispered.

That was it. It felt right.> "So very alright." Tara whispered back and smiled into red hair.

"Because I don't want to hurt you, not that I would intentionally but with your bruises and scratches, I just thought that maybe it wasn't alright, like I was hurting you or something and I'd never do that, it's the last thing that would ever enter my mind and it would never enter my mind really. . ." Willow sighed. "And I'm stopping now because there were way too many words in there."

"You could never hurt me. I know that." Tara replied, and before she had a chance to think about what she was saying, she threw in "I don't think you can ever let me down."

Willow squeezed a little tighter. "But I did last night."

Tara pulled away a little so she could look at Willow face to face. "No." She wasn't sure, but she thought that it was assertive enough to make Willow understand.

"But."

Tara shook her head. "No." She dropped her head and spoke softly. "I'd rather have you here now than. . .than with me last night. When it went away all I could think of, all I thought about was that you were. . .you know. . .safe. And I was grateful for that because I knew. . .I knew you'd be here in the morning. Then everything would be okay." Her voice became barely a whisper. "I knew you'd come and it would all be okay."

Willow's heart leapt at the final words she'd spoken. She knew it must have taken all the courage in the world for Tara to say something like that. "Aww, Tara. . . .I don't know what to say, I mean, I. . ." She sighed. Again, there weren't enough words for how she felt. Willow leaned in and placed her forehead against Tara's and closed her eyes. "I'll always be here for you."

Tara whispered back. "I know." She leaned in again and wrapped her arms around Willow's shoulders. This was definitely alright.

Suddenly, they both felt a warm breeze swirl around them. A tingling sensation danced across their skin and they tightened their grip on each other. As each minute passed, their breath became more labored. All of the emotions were conveyed, all of the thoughts locked inside were brought to the surface. In each of their minds, they saw scene upon scene unfold before them, as if they were a third party on the outside witnessing something within:

***Tara beaming with joy every time Willow said something sweet – or every time she said anything at all. She could have said that it was raining crickets and gummy bears and Tara would have just kept on smiling.***

Willow pulls away and looks deep into Tara's eyes. . .

***Willow sneaking little glances over at Tara – and Tara doing the same. Neither one knew that the other had noticed and secretly gushed inside just from the sight of each other***

***Tara sitting just that much closer to Willow in the lounge. Close enough so that she could smell the intoxicating scent that was unique to Willow and Willow alone. Sometimes, she could swear that her scent still hung in the air after Willow had left for the night and was grateful when she'd used one of the pillows on her bed. The scent lingered until she fell asleep.***

Tara smiles shyly and drops her head a little. . . .

***Willow touching Tara's arm or leg when she was talking to her. It was the only way she could keep contact, touch skin to skin, without feeling guilty for having 'those' feelings. She could feel the warmth of Tara's skin even after she took her hand away. . .it lingered there like an aftershock from static electricity – but in a good way***

***Tara hanging her head, not out of shyness, but out of fear that Willow would see the love brimming over in her eyes. Afraid that the redhead would see that she'd captured her heart with every smile.***

Willow puts her finger under Tara's chin and cups the side of her face with her hand. . . .

***Willow babbling on and on and on. She caught herself once or twice almost saying too much, almost revealing how she felt, but covered it up with more words than necessary. Tara's presence seemed to yank the babble right out of her – if she didn't babble, then she'd probably state very simply how much the girl meant to her. She felt like, if she just kept on talking about nothing, then she wouldn't have to admit that Tara meant everything***

***"I am you know." (Tara turns her head toward Willow) "What?" (Willow looks a little confused) "Yours." (gives a half-smile) (Willow tilts her head and smiles)***

Tara reaches over to put her hand on top of Willows – leaning into the caress. . . .

***Tara is mid sentence. ". . .I-it-it's kind of like astral projection. It's very intense. I'd have to be your anchor, keep you on this plane." Willow nods. "I trust you." Tara shakes her head. "It-it's not like anything that we've ever—" Willow smiles broadly. "I trust you."***

***Buffy, Willow and Tara are walking the path on campus. Tara stops. "Um. . .my exit. Willow, I'll see you tomorrow?" Willow turns to her and sighs. "Okay." She reaches for Tara's arm and slides her hand down to entwine their fingers for a moment before letting go.***

The images stopped abruptly, leaving the two girls staring at each other and trying to bring their breathing back to a semi-normal rhythm.

Willow found her voice first. "That was. . .wow" Her voice had a husky tone to it.

Tara simply nodded. Motor skills were coming back but her voice wasn't cooperating.

Willow smiled and cocked her head to the side. "Crickets and gummy bears?"

Tara dropped here eyes from embarrassment. A nice crimson color settled in her cheeks. "Well, yeah." Her voice finally returned. "The Chinese believe that having a cricket in your house was good luck and, um, gummy bears are sweet. They're my favorite." Tara suddenly felt brave and looked right into Willow's bright green eyes. "You're so sweet, and I'm lucky to have you. . .you know. . .in my life." She saw Willow blush and smiled. "So, um. . .static electricity?"

It was Willow's turn to smile. "When I was younger, I used to run around my house with my socks on and touch everything that would give me a shock." She chuckled a little. "I know it sounds weird, but it was exciting to have that little jolt of energy run through me." Willow caressed Tara's cheek with the pad of her thumb. "Whenever we make plans, whenever I know I'm going to spend time with you, I get excited." If it was at all possible, Willow blushed an even deeper shade than Tara. "When I touch you, I feel. . I can feel something. . .it tingles. . .it's like. . ."

"Magic." Tara softly finished the sentence for her.

"Yeah."

"Willow?"

"Hmm?"

"Is this, I mean. . well, is this what you wanted to talk about when, never mind." Tara closed her eyes and silently kicked herself.

"Yes." Willow breathed after what seemed like forever. "When you came and saw me writing in my diary?" Tara nodded but still didn't open her eyes. "I wanted to tell you this, everything. . .everything I felt, I just couldn't find the words. . .I was afraid you didn't, I mean you wouldn't, you know. . .feel the same?"

"I do though." It was barely an audible whisper, but Willow heard it.

The inches that separated them disappeared and Willow lightly brushed her lips against Tara's cheek, her forehead, her nose and finally settled on her lips. Each little brush, each little peck, grew longer and longer until finally they surrendered to instinct and were swept away by the current. Tara's hands found their way into silky red hair and Willow took that as an incentive to deepen the kiss.

She laid Tara on the bed carefully, caressing her face with the softest of touches, and her mouth with kisses that were delayed for much too long. They stayed that way for the rest of the day, whispering to each other, kissing, touching, learning their deepest secrets and fondest desires until they simply drifted off to sleep for a mid-afternoon nap. Wrapped up in each others arms. Safe, both knowing maybe for the first time, that it would all be okay.

FINIS   



End file.
